Chiefs outlast Lancers in Del Rio League thriller

Santa Fe High’s pitchers held on long enough to let the bats come through in Wednesday’s marathon Del Rio League game with La Serna.

Martin Serna and Eddie Fournier held the Lancers scoreless for 12 innings, and Tony Olivares delivered an RBI double in the top of the 12th that led the visiting Chiefs to a 2-0 victory. Serna was outstanding for the first eight innings, and Fournier worked out of a pair of two-on, one-out jams to preserve the shutout.

“I just had to trust my defense, had to throw strikes and get it done,” said Fournier, who also had an RBI hit in the 12th. “I knew the bats would come through and get me a run.”

La Serna reliever Gavin Callender replaced Enrique Pacheco in the eighth, and he retired the first 10 batters he faced. But Gabriel Gonzalez singled to left with one out in the 12th, and Olivares followed with a blast deep to center field that easily brought Gonzalez in. Fournier added an RBI single one batter later.

“It took us a while to get into our approach (at the plate),” said Santa Fe coach Pierre Romo, “... but we stuck with it.”

La Serna had chances to end the game in the ninth and 10th innings, putting runners at first and second with one out. But Fournier induced a 4-6-3 double play to end the ninth, and a pair of strikeouts closed out the 10th.

“He’s our closer,” said Romo, “our big guy out of the bullpen, and he proved it today. That was what we want out of him.”

The victory improved Santa Fe’s Del Rio League record to 2-0 and its overall mark to 5-6. La Serna fell to 1-1 in league play and 4-6-1 overall. Santa Fe will visit El Rancho on Friday and La Serna will host Pioneer.